DC/Marvel: Access Denied
Chapter 10
By Christopher W. Blaine
e-mail: darth_yoshi@yahoo.com
DISCLAIMER: The characters and situations contained in this story are ©2003 by either DC Comics Inc. or Marvel Entertainment Group and are used without permission for fan-related, non-profit entertainment purposes only. This original work of fiction is ©2003 by Christopher W. Blaine and may not be reproduced in part or as a whole without the express permission of the author.
Earth-CA …"Dum Dum" Dugan squinted as the S.H.I.E.L.D helicarrier crossed in front of the path of the sun and ordered one of the technicians to lower the tinted covering for the main viewing window. Outside the flying fortress, hundreds of fighters from various militaries, countries and organization flew in combat air patrol formations. On the flight deck below, several S.T.A.R. Labs experimental one-man Rocket Troopers, men clad in American versions of the Rocket Red suit, were being refueled.
Ahead of them they could see the smoking ruins of New York City. The scene reminded Dugan of a time in the not so distant past when terrorists had caused the clouds of death to loom over the great metropolis. He was sick in the pit of his stomach as he realized that if he were successful in this mission, then New York City would most likely never exist again.
"Our cargo is starting to get restless," Agent Sharon Carter said. Dugan turned to regard the attractive, blonde-haired operative. "And so am I."
"Still pissed, eh, lass?" Dugan asked as he pulled out a cigar. Sharon had been something more than a friend and something less than a girlfriend to Captain America. From operations that S.H.I.E.L.D. had been conducting in England against the Church of Blood they had learned that several of Earth's super-heroes had been replaced by Skrulls, including the Star-Spangled Avenger himself.
"They killed the man I…loved," she admitted through gritted teeth. "If the real heroes had been here, then maybe we could have defeated Holocaust before he allied himself with the Church of Blood and its fanatics."
Dugan nodded and looked down on the monitor panel that displayed the "cargo" Sharon had been referring to. It was being hauled over the ocean by a score of military helicopters and repulsor vehicles. "This had better work," he said silently.
"We've got more trouble," the Guardian said. The hero, a member of Project Cadmus, had been working with S.H.I.E.L.D. for the last six months, investigating terrorist camps in Europe. "Our advance scouts say the Hulk has resurfaced and he's fighting some members of the Justice League and Avengers."
Sharon cursed. "That's the last thing we need! I thought Banner was dead."
"He's tearing apart downtown, going toe-to-toe with Wonder Woman, Hawkman and Spider-Man."
Dugan got a concerned look on his face and went over to a computer terminal. He typed in a few commands and read from the list scrolling on the screen. "Impossible, lad; Hawkman was killed in Midway City at the beginning when the Church of Blood overran the local National Guard base. He, Hawkgirl, and D-Man were all crucified."
The Guardian whispered something to one of the technician and moments later the main monitor, a giant flat screen on the side bulkhead. The image was obviously from a flying drone from the way it bobbed and weaved. It showed the Hulk backhanding Wonder Woman and sending her flying into the remains of an office building. Hawkman could be seen plainly pursuing her. "It's him."
"Then maybe it was a Skrull that was killed in Midway City?" Sharon asked out loud, waiting for anyone to answer.
Dugan decided that with the Hulk involved, his complicated plan was becoming a simple mess. He considered contacting the remnants of the Hulkbusters out in New Mexico, the one area of the United States that was free of any Church of Blood zealots. They were too far away, though. "Drop the cargo," he ordered.
Sharon did not have to be told twice and as she moved to issue the order to the troops, her eye caught the hint of a bloody Skrull in a Captain America costume. She prayed the Hulk squashed the bastard.
"Colonel Dugan!" the Guardian called out. "We've got a missile or something heading towards Florida!"
Dugan looked up at the threat board and it showed that some sort of low-flying, high-speed projectile had been launched from New York and was heading at Mach 4 towards Miami. "Opinions?"
Sharon hesitated from issuing the drop order. "There are no military silos in New York City…it could be A.I.M. or maybe one of Doc Doom's old weapons."
"It could also be Superman," the Guardian added. "I've seen him show up on screens like that before."
"Superman is dead!" Dugan bellowed. "He's not coming back this time! None of them are, people! I don't know who the bloody hell that Hawkman is and I don't know who or what is flying towards Florida, but it isn't the dead!" He pounded a fist on the nearest workstation. "Now drop the bloody damn cargo!"
A strong hand grabbed Aquagirl's shoulder and gently pulled her back. She turned, tears in her eyes and saw the smiling face of Super-Woman. "Shyla?" she asked silently.
Super-Woman's medical and psychological background told her that more than anything, Aquagirl needed to talk, but she was practical enough to realize that now was not the time. She stepped away from her and moved to within an arm's reach of Despayre. The demon chuckled. "Your soul is tainted, bitch."
"Uh, huh," Super-Woman said as she crossed her arms over her chest. She had never actually encountered a supernatural being and she had to admit, she wasn't impressed.
"You are guilty of many things, many bad and terrible things," the demon said, walking in a circle around her. "I never realized that Holocaust would bring me so many treats. There are benefits to working with an ally."
"Uh, huh."
Despayre stopped and cocked his head. "You mock me."
"No, I'm just tired of demons and god-like creatures and killing and alternate realities." She started to tap her boot. "I'd like to just stop a bank robbery and maybe find a nice, cute guy to snuggle up to on a cold night. I'd like to explore having children, getting a secret identity…you know, normal super-hero things."
"Yes, your despair over this is intoxicating!"
Super-Woman rolled her eyes. "Please!" She then gave him a quick once over. "Say, that's your corporeal form, right?"
He stood a little more erect and smiled grimly. "It is the form with which I interact with you humans."
"Which means it suffers from the same weaknesses as any other mortal form?"
Despayre laughed. "Fool! I have defeated two score of your kind, your super-heroes! This form, while flesh, is far from mortal."
Super-Woman nodded. "I was just wondering how you handle vacuum. Did you take vacuum into account when you created that body?"
Despayre's puzzled look was priceless as Super-Woman, moving at super-speed, landed a punch on his jaw at full strength. His form went rocketing into the stratosphere and out into the cold blackness of space in less than three seconds. Five seconds later his form, never designed to handle the absence of pressure, became a billion bits of frozen demonic flesh.
She turned to see Aquagirl helping Kid Flash up. There were tears in his eyes but anger on his face. The demon had forced him to face up to feelings he had wanted to keep buried. Super-Woman noticed, though, that Aquagirl's eyes held her boyfriend like tractor beams. Whatever had been keeping her from expressing her love for him over the past few days, and she suspected she knew what it was, was no longer an issue.
Aqualad, bloody and bruised, was kneeled over the dead body of the Skrull Shamrock. He was shaking his head and Super-Woman picked up what she thought was an Atlantean prayer for the dead. After a few moments, he stood up and joined them. "It explains so much. The Skrulls infiltrated out ranks and we weren't ready."
He looked at Kid Flash. "I'm sorry that I let my personal feelings for Tula cloud my judgment. I should have picked up on it."
Kid Flash nodded and accepted a squeeze from Aquagirl. He winced; she was, after all, a lot stronger than him. "Forget about it; she's not easy to get over."
Super-Woman turned and used her telescopic vision to look back at New York. She uttered a few choice Kryptonian curse words. "I've got to go; I'll be back for you."
Kid Flash gave Aquagirl a kiss on the cheek. "I'm going too, babe. You two look for any survivors." She nodded and pulled him in for a long kiss on the lips. "I don't know, maybe I should stay," he said with a wink.
"Later, lover boy; we have a lot to make up for and a lot to talk about," she said, giving him one last peck.
They broke their embrace and he turned to Super-Woman. "Race ya, hot pants!"
She was happy to see that he was finally getting back to normal and the two of them headed off towards what she hoped would be the final battle.
Loki glanced over at the brooding Darkseid, who watched the battle between the Hulk and Wonder Woman. For the first time, he thought he saw a look of sadness wash over the face of the master of Apokolips. Loki knew that Darkseid, if he were capable of true love, had felt it for the Amazing Amazon.
Loki found her physically pleasing enough, but her compassion for the mortal fleas that inhabited the Earth was beyond him and, he had always assumed, was beyond the thoughts of Darkseid. Instead, he was beginning to note, Darkseid was truly troubled that he had essentially sentenced Wonder Woman to death.
The plan was simple enough: only a magical being could hope to defeat Holocaust in physical combat. The problem was that simply beating the hell out of the creature was not going to be enough.
Loki decided to try and get Darkseid's mind on something else. "How goes your negotiations with the mortal Bullseye?"
Darkseid did not remove his gaze from the action. "He will play his role, godling, worry not about that. He will provide the distraction needed for the plan to see fruition." Wonder Woman could be seen being pulled out of a concrete structure by Hawkman. Darkseid seemed to breathe a little easier.
"The female means very much to thee?" Loki asked.
Darkseid nodded. "To you I will admit as much; she has my heart, as cold and black as it may be. With her I hoped to rule the Earth and one day engage your kind in glorious battle for supremacy."
Loki, for one, was happy that had not come about. He was the trickster god, a being who engaged in battles of wits and subtlety to achieve his aims. Wars were for the oafish like his now-dead half-brother Thor. "And yet thou wouldst send her to a death that thou knowest she cannot refuse to accept. Verily, I would call you a monster if I did not know that thee would consider it a title of honor."
Darkseid's head slowly turned and for a moment Loki was afraid that he was about to be destroyed by Darkseid's famed Omega Beams. The despot's eyes flashed briefly but then the look of sadness washed over them again. "Under normal circumstances I would say you were correct. Today, though, son of Odin, you test my patience. Leave Darkseid now!"
Loki did not have to be told twice and calling upon his magical abilities, Loki disappeared into a mist, leaving Darkseid alone with his own thoughts. He reached out a massive, granite-like hand to the screen showing the battle on Earth and touched the image of Princess Diana. "My love, I would burn the galaxy down for you and offer its ashes as a wedding gift. Can Darkseid be so cold that he would surrender the only light in his life to conquest? Was it not the plan of Darkseid that left your world defenseless against this threat?"
A single tear fell from his eye and splashed onto the hard metal floor. "I know what the mortals would do for love, for their poems and songs are filled with their thoughts and deeds on the subject. What does Darkseid do for love, though? What, my love?"
In that moment he realized what it was he had to do and he called for his guards. The battle was about to be joined.
The creature fell into the ocean, which immediately snapped its brain back to full life. Instinctively it began swimming towards the shore if only to orient itself. For a long time it had slept, but not as long as it had many times before.
With a sweep of its tail, it glided through the ocean with an agility that its massive size would indicate it could not possess. It tasted the water and knew that it was far away from home; in a place it had not visited for the first time until only a few years before. It missed its home waters, warm and full of the tasty whales and other larger creatures it liked to eat.
The creature also felt strange, as of something was not right on the inside. An intelligent being, it still could not know that since the time it had been captured years before, several experiments had been performed upon it to turn it into a weapon to be used against Superman should he had ever turned against the world.
The creature did not know who Superman was, but then why would it? Very few of the hairless monkeys that inhabited the surfaces attracted the creature's attention. They were annoying at the most and not very good to eat at the least.
Through the water it picked up sounds like battle and it was attracted to them immediately. The creature was always looking for conflict, always willing to fight anyone or anything for control of territory.
With a growl that sent fish scattering for a hundred miles, the creature headed directly for Manhattan.